


Courtroom reunion

by SugdenLovesDingle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: A little self indulgent, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Protectiveness, Reunions, Sarah Sugden is a badass, team Aaron & Sarah to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24709948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Aaron and Sarah work together to get Robert home
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	Courtroom reunion

“Well maybe if you had taught your son no means no and rape is bad, mine wouldn’t be locked away from everyone he loves for protecting his sister from you and your family!”

Aaron walked into the pub and was met with a wall of sound. He was meeting up with Sarah, his mother in law, and one of the very few people these days to keep him sane, for lunch in the pub but apparently the party had started without him.

“He murdered my Lee!” Wendy shrieked. “He got punished for what he did. That’s justice being done!”

“Justice? Do you want to talk about justice?” Sarah shot back. “Victoria never got justice for your son raping her, you and him harassing her and calling her a liar for months, or your other son trying to worm his way into her life and her bed.”

“What did I miss here?” Aaron asked. He could tell Sarah was only just getting started and Bob trying to calm her down did absolutely nothing of the sort.

Sarah turned around and smiled when she saw him, acting like nothing was wrong. Robert was so much like her, Aaron sometimes still had a hard time believing they didn’t share DNA.

“Oh nothing love. Wendy here was just leaving after we had a nice chat about our sons. She seems to believe Robert belongs in prison and that it’s justice being served.”

“Really now?”

“He pleaded guilty! He admitted what he did!”

“He pleaded guilty to hitting him. He took responsibility for his actions.” Aaron pointed out, trying to stay calm.

“Unlike your son who only admitted to what he did to gloat about getting away with it and saying he’d do it again.” Sarah snapped.

“That doesn’t sound like my Lee. He was a good boy.”

“So good that he goes around raping girls and harassing her and her family for months.”

“Well he paid the price for that didn’t he?!”

“No, he got off easy. If anyone should have been in prison, it’s him.” Aaron said, and then put himself between Wendy and Sarah to prevent further verbal bloodshed. “Ready to order… mum?”

She shook her head and smiled. She’d been telling him to call her mum ever since he and Robert had gotten back together for real but he always felt strange about it and rarely actually did it.

“Using your secret weapon to distract me now?”

Aaron gave her a shrug and grinned.

“It’s working isn’t it?”

They ordered and sat down at a table, and after checking neither of his parents were around, Aaron pulled a letter out of his pocket.

“He wrote back.” He said happily.

Sarah was the only one who knew Aaron had replied to Robert’s letter after all and that he’d been hounding the postman every day for weeks, hoping for a reply.

“That’s great!” Sarah said, squeezing his hand across the table. “I knew he would. He can be a stubborn idiot but he loves you too much to give up completely.”

Aaron smiled.

“Hopefully. I told him about that solicitor you contacted to look at his case… and he’s willing to meet with her. He wants to appeal.”

“Good. We’re getting him back.” Sarah vowed.

“I don’t want to get my hopes up… but I’m really getting my hopes up.” Aaron admitted and laughed nervously. “I just… I miss him… and I keep thinking about what it would be like to have him home again. To sit down for a meal again together or watch some dodgy film he picked out… To be a family again.”

“I know love, I miss him too. The solicitor is the daughter of a friend of mine and she said he has a good case. She thinks she can get the charges reduced to GBH… and with time served he could be out in a few months.”

“I really hope she’s right.”

“Who is right about what?” Chas asked, leaning over Aaron to put Eve’s carrier on the table between him and Sarah.

“Robert wrote me a letter.” Sarah said, quickly grabbing the letter from the table and putting it in her purse.

“Oh. He’s writing to you and all now is he?” Chas turned to Aaron. “You’re well shot of that one, love. If he can’t even be bothered to write you…” She squeezed his shoulder. “Would you mind looking after your little sister for a couple of hours? I’ve got an appointment in Hotten and Paddy got called away to an emergency.”

Aaron gave her a slightly forced smile.

“Sure. No problem.” He got up and undid the straps and lifted the little girl out of her carrier. “We’ll be alright for an afternoon, won’t we?”

“Thanks love, I won’t be gone long, I promise.” Chas said and left, giving Sarah a nod in passing. There was no love lost between the two women since Robert’s arrest and sentencing and they vastly disagreed on how to help Aaron through his loss.

“He promised he’d ring me so we could talk about his appeal… and other stuff.”

“You mean the divorce?” Sarah guessed. She knew Aaron hadn’t signed the papers, and she knew her own son well enough to know divorce was about the last thing Robert actually wanted.

“Yeah… I told his solicitor I wasn’t signing anything without having spoken to Robert face to face… I guess a phone call is as close as it gets for now.”

Sarah frowned.

“Are you planning on going through with it?”

“No.” Aaron said resolutely. “But I kind of understand why he did it now. He explained in his letter… he wanted to set me free... Idiot.”

They chatted for a while until Eve started fussing and Aaron decided to take her through to the back to put her down for a nap.

“I’ll let you know when I’ve heard from my friend.” Sarah promised him and Aaron promised her to do the same when he’d heard from Robert.

Which turned out to be sooner than he’d thought.

Just a few days later when he was about to walk into the pub to grab a bite to eat, his phone rang. He checked the screen but didn’t recognise the number.

“Hello?”

“Aaron? It’s me… Robert.”

Aaron nearly dropped his phone in shock and made himself sit down at the picnic table.

“Rob…”

“It’s… so good to hear your voice… did you get my letter?”

“Yeah… uhm a few days ago… have your heard from the solicitor yet?”

“I have actually. She was here this afternoon. She thinks she can get it down to GBH. I could get out on time served.” Robert told him and Aaron could tell he was holding himself back.

“Yeah your mum told me…” Aaron trailed off. “She’s the daughter of a friend of your mum’s… I’m still not used to her _knowing_ people. I thought that was just Cain.” He babbled, trying to cover his nerves.

“I’m… afraid to hope.” Robert admitted after a few minutes of the two of them listening to each other’s breathing. “She thinks I stand a good chance of winning… but I just… what if I don’t?”

“Then we’ll deal with that. I’m not giving up on you or us.” Aaron told him. “I’m not divorcing you. You’re stuck with me Sugden.”

Robert laughed.

“Good. Right back at you.” He said and started asking about Liv and Vic everyone else he missed and Aaron happily filled him in.

“And your mum is at war with Wendy.” He said with a chuckle. “She had a right go at her in the pub the other day. Basically called her a bad mother and told her this is all her fault.”

Robert groaned.

“Trust my mum to embarrass me while I’m in prison serving fourteen years for murder.”

“I think it was mostly about Vic and Harry. And hopefully you won’t be in there for much longer.” Aaron said, trying not to sound too hopeful. “Do you have a date for your hearing yet?”

“No, not yet… she said it could take months…”

“Months?!” Aaron swore under his breath. “When you get a date, let me know, I’ll get a flight down there.”

“No, Aaron… what if I don’t win? What if they add more years to my sentence? I can’t say goodbye to you again.”

“You won’t have to. No matter what happens, I’ll be there.”

“I can’t ask you that…”

“You’re not asking anything. I’m telling you.” Aaron insisted “I just need you to promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“Please don’t cut me out of your life again. I mean it Rob, I can’t handle it again. I need you to promise me you won’t.”

“Ok. I promise.”

Three months later, Aaron was sitting next to Sarah in the public gallery of the Isle of Wight courthouse. Robert wasn’t there yet and Aaron’s nerves were raging through his body.

He’d told his mum about the hearing and that he was talking to Robert again, and to say she wasn’t happy about it was an understatement. He’d tried explaining to her that Robert is the love of his life and they had to at least give this appeal a try, but she only seemed to be able to focus on the times Robert had hurt him.

In the end he’d given up trying to reason with her and just grabbed some clothes for himself and Robert, as well as some other stuff he might need, and driven down to Southampton to meet Sarah.

She’d offered to drive down there together but Aaron had declined. If Robert was getting released, he wanted him to himself for as long as possible, and if he wasn’t, Aaron planned to drink himself stupid in the nearest pub for a few days and not deal with his mother in law.

Anna, Robert’s solicitor, had sat them down the night before in the B&B they were all staying at and explained what they could expect during the hearing. She’d assured Aaron things could only get better for Robert from here on out and he just hoped she was right.

Suddenly a door opened and Robert was brought in. His hands were in cuffs and the suit he was wearing was slightly too big on him, but to Aaron he still looked perfect and he wished he could go over to him and tell him.

“He’s lost weight.” Sarah pointed out and Aaron could only nod.

The hearing itself was a blur. Aaron was vaguely aware of the case being reviewed, but couldn’t concentrate on what was being said or any points Anna made about new evidence coming to light.

He could only focus on Robert. He was almost studying him. The way he sat there next to Anna, constantly switching between looking at Aaron and Sarah and the judges. Aaron was committing every inch of him to memory. Just in case things didn’t go their way today.

Sarah grabbing his hand made him snap back to reality.

“… and with time served that makes you eligible for immediate release. You are free to go mister Sugden.”

Both Aaron and Sarah jumped to their feet while Robert sat back down in his chair, looking around like he couldn’t believe what was happening.

Sarah had pulled Aaron into a hug but let him go when she realised he was only focused on one thing. Or rather, one person.

“Go get your husband back sweetheart.”

As he walked over to Robert, everything else was a blur. Robert looked up as if he sensed Aaron coming closer and all but flew up out of his chair and ran into Aaron’s arms.

They held each other tight like their lives depended on it, pulling back slightly to share their first kiss in way too long.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Robert was the first to speak after they broke the kiss. “And I’m so sorry for pushing you away.”

“It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok.” Aaron mumbled while running his fingers through Robert’s hair. It was longer than he usually kept it but Aaron liked it. “I’ve missed you too but it’s all over now. We’re going home.”

Robert smiled and kissed him again.

“I can’t wait. I’ve missed everyone so much and I can’t wait to meet Harry, and get Seb home. Thank you. For never giving up on me.”

“I could never. But you have your mum to thank for this one. She’s a force to be reckoned with.” Aaron said with a chuckle and let Robert go so he could hug Sarah who had walked up to them.

“Thank you mum.” Robert said, burying his face in his mum’s neck like when he was a little boy. “For everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me sweetheart.” She dropped a kiss in his hair while rubbing his back. “I did what any mother would have done.”

Robert nodded against her shoulder and pulled back to look her in the eye.

“I’m sorry for being an idiot all this time. I missed you so much. Both of you.” He turned around and held an arm out for Aaron who happily stepped into the embrace.

A few hours later, after lunch at a café near the court and a walk around the neighbourhood, they were at the B&B Aaron and Sarah had stayed the past few days.

As soon as they’d entered the room, Robert had let himself collapse on the bed.

“I’m exhausted.” He told Aaron who laid down next to him and pulled him close in the way they usually slept at home.

“Me too. So let’s take a nap. I’ve booked this room until the end of the week, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

Robert smiled and rested his head on Aaron’s chest.

“Yeah. We do.”


End file.
